tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post489751417457988212..comments2015-03-03T15:14:31.034-05:00Comments on Rex Parker Does the NYT Crossword Puzzle: Ancient Roman censor / TUE 1-29-11 / Bygone Tunisian VIPs / Degrees of separation in Hollywood parlor gameRex Parkerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16145707733877505087noreply@blogger.comBlogger89125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-46519258130261640802012-01-03T17:33:29.215-05:002012-01-03T17:33:29.215-05:00Spacecraft here. One contribution and I&#39;ll be ...Spacecraft here. One contribution and I&#39;ll be done: I never met a mucil I didn&#39;t like. Now to puzz.<br /> I followed the CUNEIFORM LABYRINTH down the BREADCRUMBTRAIL (alas, no reception on the IPHONE), and found..<br />well, you know. Marvelous words, not that terrible fillers (just some overworked ones like TCBY, AMOK and ONEA--but at least that last was not clued for spelling, as &quot;Unusual feature of Elvis&#39; middle name&quot;--along with the ubiquitous STLO), and an imaginatively treated theme. Is this a new name in constructors? I&#39;ve not seen Ms. Lucido&#39;s name before. If this is a first effort, very well done!<br /><br />tiotic: talk about your LOUD Christmas neckwear!Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-25083306119485580342012-01-03T16:27:45.685-05:002012-01-03T16:27:45.685-05:00@Red V: Where have you been hiding?
Good to hear ...@Red V: Where have you been hiding?<br />Good to hear you&#39;re alive and well albeit 5 weeks in netherland with @Diri et al.<br />Red&#39;s rule!Gill I. P.http://www.blogger.com/profile/05605766053820226324noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-38935829881710416682012-01-03T14:54:45.430-05:002012-01-03T14:54:45.430-05:00Greetings from the time warp.
I thought this an ...Greetings from the time warp. <br /><br />I thought this an excellent puzzle--fun to learn what a Bacon Number is! (I suppose I should be embarrassed for not knowing in the first place.) I think I&#39;ve seen TCBY, but only in crosswords. Looked it up after the fact, and it seems they are here in Canada, too.<br /><br />In this morning&#39;s Vancouver Sun, Andrew Coyne has his inaugural (in syndication--he&#39;s been a columnist at the G&amp;M and NP) column. It&#39;s about writing columns. Last line of second to last paragraph: &quot;I was going to make the contrarian case against contrarianism here, but things have got meta enough as it is.&quot;<br /><br />Ditto to comments above about loving the blog and the comments. But what, I ask you (except for @Gill I.P. and @foodie, who clearly don&#39;t share the view), is wrong with red-headed children??!?Red Valerianhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04638265039015470938noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-17629109708730718102011-12-20T22:06:46.903-05:002011-12-20T22:06:46.903-05:00@Chip Hilton: oh yeah, it was mentioned by several...@Chip Hilton: oh yeah, it was mentioned by several people on facebook, including Joon. Those crossword people.....!<br />Best wish for you, ok?download unikeyhttp://kimi.com.vn/download-unikey-4-0.htmlnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-67929901048497378552011-11-30T21:52:53.622-05:002011-11-30T21:52:53.622-05:00@Chris: welcome and thank you very much! You are s...@Chris: welcome and thank you very much! You are so right about so many other sites. I am often afraid to even look at comments.<br />This is a wonderful blog, and we all learn every day and laugh a little. <br /><br />Bottom line: puzzle people are so nice.machttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06794371617847975218noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-8717030464034294072011-11-30T08:15:29.326-05:002011-11-30T08:15:29.326-05:00Why Chris, you DO know how to make a blog communit...Why Chris, you DO know how to make a blog community blush...<br /><br />Thanks for pointing that out - you are so right about the &quot;usual&quot; comment sections. I&#39;ve taken that for granted around here.<br /><br />Read both blog and comments daily - I now amaze myself that I can finish even Saturdays some weeks (w/out googling, of course), and it is directly related to learning fdrom this bright bunch.Titahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16368251255494687496noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-22285495255896896212011-11-30T02:07:38.368-05:002011-11-30T02:07:38.368-05:00I&#39;d like to say the following to all who&#39;v...I&#39;d like to say the following to all who&#39;ve left comments here. I do the NYT crossword only infrequently (and, alas, I&#39;m rarely able to solve the entire puzzle Wed. onward). I did the puzzle today then checked to see Rex Parker&#39;s comments (which I enjoy). For the first time ever, I looked at the readers&#39; comments.<br /><br />I just wanted to say how impressed I am by the comments here. Usually the comment sections found on the Internet are filled with angry screeds that are more often than not unintelligible, profane, mean, and pointless. However, the comments I&#39;ve read here are SO CIVILIZED: almost uniformly intelligent, well-written, kind, witty, and quite often downright hilarious. What a great bunch of people you seem to be.<br /><br />There. Just wanted to get that off my chest.<br /><br />ChrisChrisnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-91437391201639157482011-11-30T00:41:59.018-05:002011-11-30T00:41:59.018-05:00@foodie: Always a pleasure to assist a food lover...@foodie: Always a pleasure to assist a food lover.<br />That little red headed baby, who&#39;s giving the evil eye, is our granddaughter. She takes after me!Gill I. P.http://www.blogger.com/profile/05605766053820226324noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-12742405562375094182011-11-29T23:05:19.555-05:002011-11-29T23:05:19.555-05:00Not to be meta about it, but loved the puzzle and ...Not to be meta about it, but loved the puzzle and really enjoy the comments.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-27710883408259014392011-11-29T22:07:22.738-05:002011-11-29T22:07:22.738-05:00This week&#39;s relative difficulty ratings. See m...This week&#39;s relative difficulty ratings. See my 8/1/2009 post for an explanation. In a nutshell, the higher the ratio, the higher this week&#39;s median solve time is relative to the average for the corresponding day of the week.<br /><br />All solvers (this week&#39;s median solve time, average for day of week, ratio, percentile, rating)<br /><br />Mon 6:34, 6:50, 0.96, 34%, Easy-Medium<br />Tue 8:32, 8:52, 0.96, 45%, Medium<br /><br />Top 100 solvers<br /><br />Mon 3:38, 3:40, 0.99, 50%, Medium<br />Tue 4:30, 4:34, 0.98, 51%, Mediumsanfranman59http://www.blogger.com/profile/15118732156312301425noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-50252599967755943612011-11-29T21:35:10.012-05:002011-11-29T21:35:10.012-05:00@Gill I. P. Thank you:) I&#39;ve been meaning to ...@Gill I. P. Thank you:) I&#39;ve been meaning to ask you: Who&#39;s that really cute red headed baby in the picture? Adorable!<br /><br />@Tita, I never knew I was Urspreunglich! That sounds amazing.<br />And what a cool word origin!<br /><br />Meta4: What a wonderful name. And there was something META about your post.foodiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13052189131129098616noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-17168560609711231892011-11-29T19:30:35.023-05:002011-11-29T19:30:35.023-05:00@Chip Hilton: yes, it was mentioned by several peo...@Chip Hilton: yes, it was mentioned by several people on facebook, including Joon. Those crossword people.....!machttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06794371617847975218noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-56832837895480790962011-11-29T19:21:51.935-05:002011-11-29T19:21:51.935-05:00There&#39;s a guy on Jeopardy named Kiran Kedlaya ...There&#39;s a guy on Jeopardy named Kiran Kedlaya who finished first runner-up in the national crossword championship in 2006. Anybody know him?Chip Hiltonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11944056030047563287noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-55760895622766455532011-11-29T18:24:41.698-05:002011-11-29T18:24:41.698-05:00Can&#39;t add too much to all the wonderful commen...Can&#39;t add too much to all the wonderful comments on the puzzle but must poke my head in to say you good folks continue to delight and returning to Rexville was truly like coming home for Thanksgiving! I am so utterly grateful for all of you!fikinkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06324570637549775751noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-5812039529190208172011-11-29T18:21:23.601-05:002011-11-29T18:21:23.601-05:00Julius Caesar &gt; Act III, scene I
ANTONY: O mig...Julius Caesar &gt; Act III, scene I<br /><br />ANTONY: O mighty Caesar! dost thou lie so low?<br /> Are all thy conquests, glories, triumphs, spoils,<br /> Shrunk to this little measure? Fare thee well.<br /> I know not, gentlemen, what you intend,<br /> Who else must be let blood, who else is rank:<br /> If I myself, there is no hour so fit<br /> As Caesar&#39;s death hour, nor no instrument<br /> Of half that worth as those your swords, made rich<br /> With the most noble blood of all this world.<br /> I do beseech ye, if you bear me hard,<br /> Now, whilst your purpled hands do reek and smoke,<br /> Fulfil your pleasure. Live a thousand years,<br /> I shall not find myself so apt to die:<br /> No place will please me so, no mean of death,<br /> As here by Caesar, and by you cut off,<br /> The choice and master spirits of this age.The Bardnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-18477516770083024972011-11-29T18:20:10.387-05:002011-11-29T18:20:10.387-05:00Aristotle&#39;s final book is known in Greek as τὰ...Aristotle&#39;s final book is known in Greek as <a href="http://www.classicpersuasion.org/pw/aristotle/metaphysics1.htm?pleaseget=I-2/" rel="nofollow">τὰ μετὰ τὰ φυσικά</a>. It is a separate word in Greek, but also a prefix. It entered English as the prefix. I believe the rise of META as a standalone word in English comes from &quot;metamathematics&quot; and the geeks who were aware of (and sometimes even with understanding of) Gödel&#39;s self-referential proof of his incompleteness theorem, famously popularized thirty years ago in Hofstadter <i>Gödel, Escher, Bach</i>.<br /><br />PS: there&#39;s a day late comment for yesterday&#39;s constructor.william e embanoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-22866506938515673122011-11-29T18:12:03.406-05:002011-11-29T18:12:03.406-05:00Agree with @Z above completely, but then again I f...Agree with @Z above completely, but then again I fall right into that under-25 crowd.<br /><br />If anyone&#39;s seen Ocean&#39;s Twelve -- Matt Damon&#39;s character keeps commenting on how Julia Roberts&#39; character, Tess, looks like a famous movie actress. Eventually, to get the heist done, they coerce Tess to pose as Julia Roberts to obtain a private viewing in the museum they&#39;re robbing. Near the end of the movie, the rival thief tells her, &quot;You don&#39;t look like her at all.&quot; The last line of the acting credits is &quot;and introducing Tess as Julia Roberts.&quot;<br /><br />That&#39;s meta. Besides all my friends, I&#39;ve had professors (and my parents) use the word in this regard many, many times.fvigelandhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01432477374403343832noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-76790818432632458332011-11-29T18:11:50.461-05:002011-11-29T18:11:50.461-05:00It felt like a good Tuesday to me. I loved Cuneifo...It felt like a good Tuesday to me. I loved Cuneiform, labyrinth, scratch and sniff (it&#39;s not Scratch &#39;n Sniff?) and straggler especially.<br /><br />Nobody complaining about &quot;tag&quot;? All on facebook? Good for you.machttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06794371617847975218noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-61618220794951659722011-11-29T17:57:20.486-05:002011-11-29T17:57:20.486-05:00@foodie - I thought your analogy fit perfectly. Be...@foodie - I thought your analogy fit perfectly. Besides, if I got a Dualit toaster, I&#39;d be happy as a clam.Gill I. P.http://www.blogger.com/profile/05605766053820226324noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-40252405219036874022011-11-29T17:27:54.048-05:002011-11-29T17:27:54.048-05:00Regarding META, I think the third definition in th...Regarding META, I think the third definition in the Urban Dictionary is how I have heard it used most often by the under 25 crowd that I know:<br /><br />&quot;When you create new layers of abstraction between the thing or event, you are becoming more meta.<br /><br />For example: A footnote that is needed to explain another footnote is meta.<br /><br />The problem with being meta is that if you add sufficient layers of abstraction or complexity between the original event and the convenient abstractions you create to clarify or explain it, you eventually lose all connection to the original. Generally, you need no more than two or three levels in writing.<br /><br />&#39;Too much meta in your writing leads to meta fog.&#39;<br /><br />&#39;In writing, this means your writing sucks.&#39;<br /><br />&#39;Man, I need notes to explain the notes to my notes for my thesis!&#39; - &#39;That&#39;s very meta. Perhaps you should rewrite it?&#39;&quot;Zhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16181544219511150272noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-72703674982686058332011-11-29T17:08:24.443-05:002011-11-29T17:08:24.443-05:00Poor excuse for a puzzle. Miserable south and othe...Poor excuse for a puzzle. Miserable south and other random excuse for fill. Puke.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-16781716519105888772011-11-29T16:53:00.995-05:002011-11-29T16:53:00.995-05:00@31: &quot;Musically relevant&quot;? You mean, li...@31: &quot;Musically relevant&quot;? You mean, like Justin Bieber? or like Elvis?<br />Yep, if only the ABBA song was called &quot;Money, Money, Money, Bacon&quot;. Then it would have had a high BACON NUMBER (?), to boot.<br /><br />Long fill was somethin&#39; else in this puz. thUmbsUp, just for that (and 50-D), alone. Puz was easy enough, but wanted VINYL and MOVIE/SET right out of the chute, so had to back into that NW corner from elsewhere. <br /><br />Surprised that young Aimee knew about 45&#39;s and LP&#39;s. Maybe that clue came from you-know-who-eltz.Masked and Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-73977919781220630842011-11-29T15:35:59.834-05:002011-11-29T15:35:59.834-05:00Midday report of relative difficulty (see my 8/1/2...Midday report of relative difficulty (see my 8/1/2009 post for an explanation of my method):<br /><br />All solvers (median solve time, average for day of week, ratio, percentile, rating)<br /><br />Tue 8:30, 8:52, 0.96, 44%, Medium<br /><br />Top 100 solvers<br /><br />Tue 4:35, 4:34, 1.00, 57%, Mediumsanfranman59http://www.blogger.com/profile/15118732156312301425noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-885523878663583922011-11-29T15:16:08.204-05:002011-11-29T15:16:08.204-05:00Absolutely love that the long downs each cross thr...Absolutely love that the long downs each cross three theme answers, and are adjacent in pairs. As for Ombre, I understand not being a fan, but as was pointed out above, it&#39;s the game in The Rape of the Lock, so is decidedly not a just-in-crossword game, Rex&#39;s lack of knowledge notwithstanding. In fact I think the clue should have mentioned the poem instead, in which case everyone would have to admit it&#39;s fair game (pun not intended, but I&#39;m not getting rid of it) for the Times, whether one knew it or not.Jimmy Legshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03585886411628029474noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-29429694126433172972011-11-29T15:08:43.950-05:002011-11-29T15:08:43.950-05:00Acme, no time to chortle I have to tuna fish.
Met...Acme, no time to chortle I have to tuna fish.<br /><br />Meta4, as you may see the bar is set pretty high for commenting. Welcome in from the cold.<br /><br />Note: META POMOs use pendkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17317008233459295376noreply@blogger.com